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Friday, 29 May 2015

Queens Speech Volume 2 - constitutional matters feature strongly

The constitutional matters feature strongly in the second set of the Governments manifesto and I have set the res of the measures out in detail below: it is fair to say that the Scotland and EU referendum Bills have to come first for a variety of reasons:

Scotland Bill
– delivering in full the
recommendations of the Smith Commission Agreement by transferring new tax and
borrowing powers.

EU Referendum Bill – giving the British people a voice and a real choice on Europe in a referendum by the end of 2017

Northern
Ireland Bill – providing
full and independent investigations into unsolved Troubles-related deaths;
enabling victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information, and
creating a new independent Oral History Archive.

In addition there are a few other Bills on law and order, crime and justice matters

Investigatory
Powers Bill – updating
legislation to ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have
the powers and capabilities they need to keep Britain safe.

Policing and Criminal
Justice Bill – continuing to reform policing
to give police officers more freedom to do their job of making our streets
safer, whilst at the same time ensuring that they are accountable to the
communities they serve.

Psychoactive
Substances Bill – making it an offence to
produce or supply ‘legal highs’, restricting their supply and ensuring that
people have less opportunity to get them. It will also give powers to the
police to seize and destroy ‘legal highs’.